Flight Planning

While flying from Henderson, Nevada to Ontario, California, I was receiving flight following from L.A. Center. In the middle of the desert, just southwest of Primm, Nevada, I heard a pilot initiate a call to Center with, “Excuse Me … .” My ears perked up. The conversation was as follows: Pilot:“Excuse Me. Can you tell […]

Back in the ’60s, at TEB, a student on a cross-country got lost over eastern Pennsylvania and managed to come up on a New York Center frequency asking for help. When the controller asked for the pilot’s name, he responded:“There is no pilot — just me: Carlos.” Ron Krantz

Heard over tower frequency at our local airport recently. Left me crying and difficult to talk on radio. Unknown aircraft:“Err — Tower — altimeter?” Tower:“Go ahead, Altimeter.” Bob

The FAA is too slow to hire and train new air traffic controllers, NATCA said this week, and the result is that towers and centers across the country are chronically understaffed. Controllers are repeatedly working six-day weeks at TRACON facilities in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and New York, according to NATCA. “Bureaucratic inertia” is […]

I was recently flying my Mooney into an airport in Colorado. Listening on the CTAF, I heard a Citation X announce:“Citation N1234 about 15 miles west, landing.” Trying to be accommodating, I replied:“Citation, Mooney is about five miles out, but I’ll go to the VOR, then return and follow you. You’re burning a lot more […]

This past week I watched the Wings Over Wine Country Air Show practice from my hangar at KSTS. I was listening to the tower on my handheld. While I was listening, three different pilots wandered into the TFR, causing the rehearsals to be delayed. The fourth time it happened was when the Canadian Snowbirds had […]

Call came in for a fuel order:“Can you send the fuel truck for ship 1 and ship 2?” The reply came back:“I am sorry sir we don”t do boats.” Basilio

I had dispatched a solo student on his cross-country trip. The route took him over some higher terrain — about 2,000 feet higher than his departure airport. As usual, I was listening on frequency to hear him clear the zone on route when he called flight service. Pilot:“The sky is falling, and I will be […]

Normal afternoon ground transmissions, when, out of nowhere: Unidentified Pilot:“Yeah, they have fajitas, enchiladas, burritos, quesadillas, fish tacos — they got everything!” [A short silence.] Ground:“Uhh, you just broadcasted that on BWI Ground.” [Another short silence.] (A Different) Unidentified Pilot:“Sounded delicious, though.” Shawn Byers

In discussions with new pilots at airports and on aviation forums, two of the recurring questions I get are how to give a good ride to someone who has never been in an airplane before and how come the spouses and families of a fair percentage of pilots don’t like to, or simply won’t, fly […]